Sign Language Phonology

Teaching demonstration

Ng E-Ching 6 September 2019 National University of

https://lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/wallpaper1.htm http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/n/numbers.htm

2 Syntax

• Function words? • THIS CLASS is SAME TOPIC. • Topic-fronting: • , I LEARN ONLY ONE YEAR. • Wh-words tend to come last: • YOU NOTICE WHAT?

3 What is phonology?

Phonology: The study of sound patterns in language

word sign

sound sound sound prime prime prime

Phonology: The study of the smallest contrastive units in language

4 Minimal pairs

1. SORRY, PLEASE 2. SCHOOL, IMPOSSIBLE 3. YELLOW, BLUE handspeak.com 4. CANNOT, LAST 5. THINK, KNOW 6. CANDY, APPLE, NERVE 7. SCIENCE, BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY

5 6 5 parameters of sign language

1. 2. ______? 3. ______? 4. ______? 5. ______?

7 Parameter 2

1. ENOUGH, PRESSURE 2. CHOCOLATE, CHURCH 3. AMERICA, MACHINE 4. RAIN, SNOW 5. CHAIR, SIT 6. I-GIVE-YOU, YOU-GIVE-ME

8 Parameter 3

1. ONION, APPLE 2. FORGET, BETTER 3. FATHER, MOTHER, FINE 4. KNOW, DOCTOR 5. BIRD, PRINTER 6. CURIOUS, VOLUNTEER

9 Parameter 4

1. MAYBE, BALANCE 2. CHAIR, NAME 3. KING, PRINCE 4. I, YOU, HE/SHE/IT 5. MY, YOUR, HIS/HERS/ITS 6. LOOK-AT-ME, LOOK-AT-YOU

10 Parameter 5

1. LATE, NOT-YET 2. WAY-OVER-THERE, LONG-AGO, MANY 3. RECENTLY, NEARBY 4. MEDIUM, GOING-STEADY

Note: Handspeak entries may not have the same NMM marking as demonstrated.

11 Parameter 5 (continued)

5. Wh-questions: WHERE? HOW-MANY? THIS SIGN WHAT?

6. Yes/no questions: YOU DOCTOR?

7. Negation: I (NOT) DOCTOR

12 5 parameters of sign language

1. Handshape 2. 3. 4. Orientation 5. Non-manual marking (NMM)

13 How many parameters are different?

1. UNDERSTAND, 11 2. DIRTY, PIG 3. CAR, WHICH 4. YELLOW, WRONG 5. COMPUTER, BICYCLE 6. SCHOOL, COOK

14 How do we transcribe sign language?

TODAY FOCUS P-H-O-N-O-L-O-G-Y wh FOCUS WHAT y/n FOCUS LINGUISTICS neg FOCUS ENGLISH

15 A whole new world!

• What sounds/primes can be contrastive? What combinations are possible? What are the natural classes? • What kinds of social variation do we find? • Which phenomena are language-specific? Are there universals across spoken and sign language?

16 Why did people think sign language had no phonology?

word sign sound sound sound handshape movement location orientation NMM

Prejudice – Iconicity – Sequentiality

17 What have we learnt?

• Phonology is not as simple as we thought • Sequential vs. simultaneous • Sign language is not simple either • 5 parameters!

18 Want to learn sign language?

• • Handspeak.com • Lifeprint.com • Signing Savvy • Singapore Sign Language • Singapore Association for the Deaf (video) • ExtraOrdinary Horizons

19 Questions?

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